Santa Cruz isn’t exactly known for its hopping electronic scene, but that’s something that local DJ Bjorn Berg hopes to change. Before coming back to Santa Cruz recently, Berg was honing his DJ skills all over the world, spinning mostly underground house electronic tracks.
“I’ve been doing this ever since I started college, about five years ago now. I went to Spain and I worked for a boat party company. I also studied abroad in Australia. I did some block parties out there,” Berg says. “When I started, I was playing more mainstream stuff, now I’m falling more into the deep future kind of stuff. As a DJ, what really separates you is the songs you play in-between those big hits—the deep cuts that people don’t necessarily know.”
This coming show at Don Quixote’s isn’t just his first show back in his hometown, it’s also a window into new things to come. Berg booked the entire show, which features headliner Chris Martin from the innovative San Francisco Dirtybird label, with Grensta as the main support act.
“When promoting events, there’s no better feeling than to provide a good time for everyone and look out at the crowd and see the smiles on their faces and just know that you made this happen,” Berg says.
Berg plans to put on more shows in Santa Cruz and San Jose in the future with his new company Vibe Productions, hoping to fill in the gaps to the area’s much-needed electronic scene.
“We’re looking at bringing in some big international DJs to Santa Cruz and the Bay Area. Right now we’re doing our first show,” Berg says.
INFO: 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 7. Don Quixote’s, 6275 Hwy 9, Felton. $15. 335-2800
